Women in the Mirror: Seeing Ourselves Anew a Narrative Inquiry and Autoethnographic Exploration of the Hbcu Relational and Institutional Impact on the Social Justice Dispositions of White Female Education Graduates

The purpose of this research was to learn how matriculation at one HBCU impacted White female education graduates as they developed their social justice dispositions to teach all students. This study is a narrative inquiry and autoethnographic examination of the historical racial identity impact one Southeastern HBCU had on its White female education graduates’ social justice disposition for teaching. To ascertain the impact, White female education graduates tell their stories about their racial development before, during and after attending the HBCU. As a participant and the researcher, I parallel my story of racial identity development and write my autoethnography about the impact of attending the same HBCU as an African American female education graduate. I examine how I raised my level of consciousness and cultural awareness of my Blackness to prepare to teach White students. Coupled with that is an examination of White female education graduates’ level of consciousness of their Whiteness and their preparation to teach African American students and other students of color. I conclude that the stories contain valuable insights for HBCU teacher education preparation programs regarding their impact on White female education graduates’ social justice dispositions.